A Mansion on a Hill

Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ~ John 14: 1-2

These words of Jesus have struck a chord with believers throughout the centuries. Why is the “mansion” such a powerful symbol for most of us?

Perhaps it is because it means a grand place to call home. Someplace where you are surrounded by beauty and luxury. It has become a symbol of reward for hard work; a sign of wealth and achievement. We might think: “I have arrived at my inheritance from my Father who is the King. I belong because I am his child.”

Stop for a moment a really let that thought into your heart while you view this painting… Allow yourself to fill in the details about the specific beauty of your mansion.

I love this painting by Berthe Morisot, because it gives us a perfect view of a mansion on a hilltop. Not only that, she has set this house in a beautiful landscape…a garden of eden. A place of sunshine; a land flowing with milk and honey where we will have time to live in leisure for all eternity.

Most times we forget that our goal is eternal life with our Lord. We can not comprehend it and so we choose to focus on things that are around us that we can see and feel and touch. Surely we know that these things are real and eternal life living in God’s glory sounds more like a dream. Why should we focus on it in the present?

Certainly God gives us work to do, but maybe if we spend a little more time focusing on the goal of eternal life we will understand deep in our hearts what is true.

The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life.

~ John 6: 63

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever…The Lord will reign forever, Your God, O Zion, for all generations, Praise the Lord! ~ Psalm 146: 5-6, 10